Two years ago, Rene Farrell's career seemed to be over. Feeling she was not in the right place mentally, she quit Australia when the tour of New Zealand was cancelled following the Christchurch earthquake.

Only months previously she had made a telling contribution in Australia's Ashes success, scooping a hat-trick and taking five for 23 in the Test against England. Later she decided that she had retired too soon but fell over her dog and broke her foot. The first day of this Ashes on Friday was her comeback to international cricket, in which she made a four-wicket contribution, disrupting England's gameplan.

"I took a year off – I was there physically but mentally I just wasn't at the right level," Farrell said. "I then unfortunately injured myself last year. I have such a passion for cricket: it's the sport I've played all my life and it's been my passion and drive. Seeing the girls do so well in the World Cups, I wanted to be a part of their success."

Farrell grew in confidence during the opening day at the Waca, culminating when she dismissed the top-scorer Arran Brindle before easily seeing off England's tail. "I feel like a kid in a candy store. I love being back. We had a lot of chatter out there and it's fantastic to be here and be among this group.

"I felt I was struggling to find the right lengths and areas. We speak about partnerships in batting but they're just as vital in bowling. I was fortunate later on in the day but our fast-bowling group put on a fantastic performance.

"We've seen in the Aussie men's team that the Aussie's bowlers work as a pack and enjoy each other's success so that's something that we've worked on as a fast-bowling group."

Farrell bowled with some high-quality late swing but it was Holly Ferling who initially stopped England in their tracks. After winning the toss and electing to bat, captain Charlotte Edwards and Heather Knight raced along before Ferling struck in her first over. Knight chased a wide one and was caught at slip, before Ellyse Perry put last summer's disappointment behind her to dismiss Sarah Taylor for one.

Edwards was furious to be given out lbw to Sarah Coyte, and to leave England struggling at 32 for three. Brindle, meanwhile, counterattacked. She targeted Ferling in particular, who lost her line after she changed ends in the afternoon.

Brindle was well supported by the debutant Natalie Sciver, who made her name in international cricket after becoming the first English player to take a T20 hat-trick last winter. It was against spin here that she looked her strongest, targeting Sarah Elliott in particular with some brutal cut shots.

"Playing aggressively is my game against spinners or seamers, so that was my plan when I was facing the older ball," she said. "It was a nice change to the English wickets. Most of the bowlers were difficult to face but the spinners for me were especially difficult when they toss the ball up and tempt me to hit it.

"My dad is on the plane over right now, so he'll be over here for day two and three – I thought I wouldn't get 50 as I didn't want him to miss it."

Despite Sciver and Brindle's 58-run stand, they were unable to cash in on a good batting deck. Once Brindle fell to Farrell, England's tail folded, with the last six wickets falling for 47 runs.

England saved some face with an excellent six-over spell from Anya Shrubsole and Katherine Brunt in the final half-hour. The two bowled with more accuracy than the Australia openers, culminating in the wickets of Elyse Villani and Meg Lanning to leave Australia in a precarious position.

"The game is fairly balanced at the moment," Sciver said. "We can probably tell a bit more when the Aussies bat. To begin with we were slightly disappointed that we couldn't push on a bit further. I think with runs on the board we can now put the pressure back on Australia."